


Not Broken (Just Bent)

by WildflowerWoods



Series: Stories For A Rainy Day [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Allison Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - War, Ben Hargreeves Lives, Ben Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Diego Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Luther Hargreeves Needs A Hug, M/M, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, The Handler's A+ Parenting, The Hargreeves (Umbrella Academy) Need a Hug, Trans Diego Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:01:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26175406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildflowerWoods/pseuds/WildflowerWoods
Summary: The Umbrella Academy. Very few see them and lived to tell the tale. Marked by an umbrella in a circle on their wrist.The Commission. The rulers of Time. Their orders are absolute. Marked by the black briefcases they carry everywhere.The Resistance. A ragtag group of people from different eras trying to take down the Commission. Marked by- nothing. They're just ordinary people.Dave Katz was an ordinary member of the resistance until a routine mission had him and Eudora Patch running into Number Eight. A woman on the run from the commission with no name, no memory, and the entire Umbrella Academy on her heels."Shit." Eudora cursed, throwing herself behind a box."What?" Dave asked, ducking under a shelf."It's The Séance." She replied, glancing around the box. "I don't think he's seen us yet." The Séance. Number Four. The Umbrella Academy member who could talk to ghosts, make ghosts solid, float and make things float. Great."Then why's he here?""I don't know, but it can't be good."
Relationships: David "Dave" Katz & Eudora Patch, Klaus Hargreeves/David "Dave" Katz, The Hargreeves Family
Series: Stories For A Rainy Day [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1907395
Kudos: 31





	1. The Fairytales Of Yesterday Will Grow But Never Die

"Shit." Eudora cursed, throwing herself behind a box.

"What?" Dave asked, ducking under a shelf.

"It's The Séance." She replied, glancing around the box. "I don't think he's seen us yet." The Séance. Number Four. The Umbrella Academy member who could talk to ghosts, make ghosts solid, float and make things float. Great.

"Then why's he here?"

"I don't know, but it can't be good."

"Ha! Take that!" A new voice cried. It sounded female.

"Eight!" The Séance yelled. "Where are you?"

"Why would I tell you that?" The woman—Eight apparently—yelled back. "I have no idea who you people even are!"

"What do you mean, you don't know who we are? You can't recognise your own siblings? I'm hurt."

"Amnesia." Yet another new voice replied.

"Two!" Dave met Eudora's eyes and they both paled. The Kraken. Number Two. The knife thrower. Not good.

"Four. Eight hit her head. Doesn't remember anything."

"Oh, so _that's_ why we're on this chase?"

"Pretty much."

"Fuck off Knife Boy and stop following me!"

"Knife Boy. That's a good one." There were footsteps above them and a woman dropped down next to the boxes. She spotted them and froze. Eudora lunged forward and clapped a hand over the strange woman's mouth, dragging her into their hiding spot.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"I have no idea." The woman hissed back. "I woke up about two- wait, no, three hours ago with Knife Boy standing over me saying he had to bring me in. That sounded like a bad thing, so I bolted and now there's seven of the fuckers on my tail."

"Who are you?" Dave asked.

"Eight, apparently."

"Dave" He pointed to himself "Eudora." He gestured at his partner.

"We know you're in here Eight, just come out. It'll make everything easier for everyone." The Kraken called.

"Well, maybe I'm not interested in making things easier for you." Eight shot back.

"Found you!" The Séance was hovering over them "And you've got a friend!" He was slightly in front of Dave, clearly the man hadn't seen him yet.

"Fuck." Eight pulled a knife out her belt and threw it at The Séance diving sideways to avoid the knife The Kraken threw in return as the man appeared over the top of the boxes.

"Why do you have to be so difficult?" The Kraken asked. "Just- let's go home. I'll talk to The Handler, I'm sure if she knows you've got amnesia she'll excuse your erratic behaviour." Eight pulled a face.

"Uh, probably not seeing as I was alone in the middle of nowhere when I woke up after hitting my head, which implies I knew full well what I was doing when I left whatever place you're trying to drag me back to. Besides, if you're really my brother, why the hell are you throwing knives at me?" The Séance stifled a laugh.

"Uh-" The Kraken was apparently speechless.

"The answer is 'because someone told you to' isn't it?" Eight sniped "Maybe, just maybe, if you had a brain and actually thought for yourself, I wouldn't have done whatever it is I did that ended with me getting amnesia." By that point, The Séance was absolutely failing at not laughing. He had a cute laugh.

"She's right you know. You need to start thinking for yourself more, and not just about what'll piss One off the most." He commented.

" _You_ can shut the fuck up Four."

"Two!" A voice crackled over the comms. "I'm approaching the barn with Three. Have you found Eight yet?"

"Got her pinned with a couple of Rebels." The Kraken replied, "I have this handled One." One, Number One. Spaceboy. Superstrength. Three Academy members on one mission. Wait, no. One had mentioned Three. Number Three. The Rumour. Mind Control of some sort. Four academy members, One through Four. They were dead.

"Wait, a couple, there's just the- oh." The Séance looked around, finally spotting Dave. "You're cute."

"Uh, thanks?" There was no right answer to the enemy calling you cute, Dave decided.

"Can we keep him?"

"No!" The Kraken and Eudora both snapped.

"He's a Rebel! You can't just bring a Rebel back to base because you think they're cute!" The Kraken continued. It sounded like a conversation they'd had before. Eight took the moment to grab Eudora and drag her towards Dave.

"There's a back door" Eight hissed, "Just down there" She pointed at a pile of straw. "I don't think they know about it."

"Run on three?" Eudora whispered. The Kraken and The Séance were still arguing. Dave nodded. Eight shook her head.

"If we run now, they'll notice. We need to see how far we can creep before they spot us. _Then_ you run. I'm the one they're after, so hopefully, if I go a different way, they'll follow me rather than you."

"Oh no. You're _clearly_ trying to get away from them, meaning you're against The Commission, and everyone against The Commission is a Rebel."

"Which means you're one of us" Dave finished. "And we don't leave people behind."

"Two! Four!" The voice that had crackled over the comms called from the entrance to the barn.

"Screw it." Eight muttered. "GO!" Dave took off running, Eudora and Eight behind him.

"Hey!" The Séance yelled. A knife thudded into the wood next to his head and Dave sped up, crashing into the door and falling out into the sunlight.

"You were right Five, she did try the back door." Dave skidded to a stop at the sight of The Horror and The Boy. The Horror. Number Six. Powers unknown, anyone that fought him ended up as a dismembered corpse. The Boy. Number Five. Teleportation. That made six Academy members. One through Six. All they needed now was for The White Violin to show up and they'd have a full house. Well, he hadn't actually _seen_ the Rumour but still.

"Fuck." Eudora cursed.

"Eight." The Horror greeted. "Chaotic as always."

"You're with Knife Boy and the floatie guy aren't you?" Eight asked, shifting her stance slightly.

"I am." The Horror replied, frowning at her words. "Amnesia?" he guessed.

"Yep. Why are you people trying to bring me in? What did I even do?"

"I don't know. My orders are simply to bring you in alive. You annoyed some very powerful people Eight."

"Alright. Enough chit-chat." The Boy interrupted. "Eight. Stop this ridiculousness and come home."

"And if I don't want to?"

"Then we'll beat you up and drag you back. You can't win this fight. You've _never_ won against me."

"Maybe I never wanted to." Eight replied. "Hey, you seem nice." She turned to The Horror. "Wanna know what I found in that barn? Aside from these two that is."

"Oh no. I know that look." The Horror stated, backing away "You better not have-" Eight laughed, throwing what looked like a candle at The Horror.

"RUN!" Eight yelled, darting past Dave and over the field towards the hedge, Eudora gave him a shove as she followed Eight. The candle wasn't a candle.

"Eight has explosives!" The Boy yelled as three figures left the barn. There was a woman near the hedge- The Rumour. Six Academy members confirmed to be on the field. _Six_. The Commission only ever sent one or two out at a time. Whoever Eight was, she was important.

"I Hear A Rumour-" The Rumour started 

"Nope!" Eight tackled The Rumour, both women crashing to the floor. "Not dealing with that today. No chance." She pulled some tape out of her pocket, sticking it over The Rumour's mouth.

"Eight!" Spaceboy yelled as they took off running again.

"If we can make it to the hedge, there's some tunnels we can use to lose them." Eudora said in between breaths.

"Great." Eight replied, the hedge growing closer and closer. "All we need now is a distraction." Dave glanced over his shoulder, stumbling slightly as he noticed The Umbrella Academy. All seven of them, stood in a line in front of the half-destroyed barn. Spaceboy. The Kraken. The Rumour. The Séance. The Boy. The Horror. The White Violin.

"We've got company." He warned as they reached the hedge. Eight took a step back and, from an angle, it looked like she had run forwards from the end of the line, like she had once stood next to The White Violin.

She skidded to a stop, turning to face the people claiming to be her family, Dave and Eudora behind her. One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven. Something in her whispered as she stared at The Umbrella Academy. _Eight. You're Number Eight. You should be stood next to them._

"Eight!" Two yelled. She smirked, pulling the rest of the dynamite out of her pocket. About ten sticks in total.

"Bye!" She yelled, tossing the dynamite at them, diving into the hedge after Eudora and Dave.

"How the hell are we still alive?" Eudora asked after about five minutes of running through the tunnels. "We just faced six of the seven members of The Umbrella Academy!"

"The White Violin was there too." Dave replied "She just didn't fight." _Seven._

"You're telling me we faced _all **seven**_ of The Umbrella Academy and walked away not only _alive_ but **_unharmed_**." Eudora said incredulously.

"They wanted me alive for some reason." Eight stated, pulling her jacket off. Eudora froze.

"Because you're one of them." She spat, staring at the tattoo on the other woman's wrist. "You're a member of The Umbrella Academy."

"What?" Dave asked.

"That tattoo. That's the mark of The Academy."

"Maybe I was part of it. But- I'm not any more. I don't- I don't remember anything not really. Just flashes. And none of those flashes paint a pretty picture."

"Explain."

"The Umbrella Academy, when they stood in a line, you know what my brain said? One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven." She paused "Eight. I left for a reason. I don't know what that reason is, but I knew what I was doing when I left. And, apparently, someone doesn't want me out on my own. Maybe I knew something. Maybe they want me for another reason. But-" She clutched her wrist, covering the tattoo. "I do know one thing. I'm not going back."

"Then I guess you're coming with us." Dave stated. Eudora stared at him.

"Are you insane? She is _clearly_ a member of The Academy-"

"Who left. Think about it Eudora, if she gets her memories back, she can tell us all sorts of insider information. This could be our big break in the fight!"

"She's right here you know." Eight interjected. "And, if I get a say in the matter, I like you two more than Knife Boy and Friends."

* * *

"Well, where is Number Eight?" The Handler demanded as they entered the base.

"She got away." Five stated, scowling. "She somehow got her hands on some explosives and ran into a couple of Rebels. We lost her."

"What part of 'Recover Eight at all costs' do you idiots not understand?" She demanded. "If you couldn't recover her, you should have just killed her. She knows too much."

"We're not killing our sister." Two spat.

"Besides, little Eight hit her head. She's got amnesia. Didn't recognise any of us." Four interrupted.

"There may still be a chance to recover from your collective incompetence then." The Handler stated, staring at them all "The Mission still stands though. I want Eight recovered, dead or alive."

"And her new allies?" One asked.

"Kill them all."

* * *

"Well I never." Dave jumped as a voice came from behind him. "Little Number Eight. She's alive after all." Dave turned to stare at Herb.

"You know who she is?" He asked, gesturing to the woman on the monitor. Eudora had been adamant that they couldn't just give Eight free run of the giant mansion they'd made their base in, so the woman in question was currently in an unused room that looked like it was once a kitchen. They didn't use that part of the house much, there were eight bedrooms down there that still had stuff in, remnants of their previous occupants, of the children that had once lived here. Dave hoped that, whoever they were, they were happy.

"Know who- of course I know who she is. All of The Commission know who The Umbrella Academy are." Dave turned back to the monitor in time to see Eight jump back in surprise when water came out of the tap.

"So she really is part of it." Had- had she never seen running water before? She was staring at it, her head tilted to the side. like ti was something new.

"How did you find her? I thought she was dead."

"Long story short, Eudora and I ran into her on a mission." He really didn't want to go through that mission again. Dave was genuinely surprised they all walked away from that alive. "She doesn't remember anything. What do you mean, you thought she was dead?"

"Almost twenty years ago now, The Handler left one day and came back with eight children with numbers for names. Seven of those children had powers, one did not. Together they were The Umbrella Academy. I've explained One through Seven, you've fought them enough to know who they all are, but I never explained Eight because she never turned up. I honestly thought The Handler had killed her or something." He sighed, and Dave could tell Herb didn't see the woman when he looked at the monitor. He saw a child. "Eight- Eight tried so, so hard to keep up with her siblings but she just- couldn't. The Handler sent those kids up against fully trained agents and while One through Seven all stood a chance with their powers, Eight's powerless." the room froze "There are no special abilities that can help her in a fight and a kid against fully trained assassins? Poor kid lost far more than she won, she won less than the rest of her siblings together lost. When she never turned up on the battlefield I thought- well, I thought a trial had been too harsh, an agent didn't stop fast enough. I thought all that was left of Eight was a small plaque on the wall of the fallen, if that."

"How- how old were they? When The Handler got them?" Dave asked, because, he didn't want to feel sorry for The Umbrella Academy, to sympathise with the people that had killed so many of his friends, but, he had to know.

"Ten. They were ten. And they were already partially trained." Dave looked back at the monitor, at the woman poking around the kitchen like she'd never seen one before. Maybe she hadn't.

"Well, Dave, Eudora," Ray stated from the doorway "seeing as you brought her back, she's your responsibility." Dave turned to stare at him. Eudora groaned.

"That woman is a walking disaster."

"Who spent twenty years at The Commission and probably wouldn't be able to remember any other life even if she didn't have amnesia." Ray pointed out. "We're trying to help the people The Commission have hurt. That includes her. Probably the rest of The Academy too."

* * *

"So." Three stated as they got back to their room. "Recovering Eight. How are we going to do that?" she looked at them all "because, even if she doesn't remember us, she remembers how to counter us."

"How do you know that?"

"I tried to rumour her and she cut me off before I could finish yelling 'nope. Not dealing with that today'."

"Maybe she's lying about the amnesia?" Seven suggested.

"No. She isn't." Two replied, tossing his knives onto his bed. "I was there when she woke up. She didn't recognise me at all. Besides, you know Eight can't lie to save her life."

"She _is_ pretty bad at lying" Four agreed. "Plus, there was no blackmail. Like, at all. Have you guys ever fought Eight before without her bringing out blackmail?"

"No- I suppose not." Seven muttered.

"Maybe- maybe we need to stop and consider _why_." Six suggested.

"Why what?"

"Why she left? Why The Handler clearly doesn't want whatever she knows getting out? _Why now_? Why, after twenty years, is Eight going rogue and why is The Handler sending us, seven of the best she has, after one person that, more often than not, loses the fights she has with other agents?" He paused "Why is The Handler scared of Eight?"

"You sound ridiculous." One scoffed

"No." Five stated "I think he's onto something. Eight was clearly planning something when she left. Yes, we know her best, but it shouldn't have taken all seven of us to bring her in. Two alone should have been enough. The Handler had no way of knowing that Eight wouldn't have her memories when we caught up."

"Eight did something she didn't want us seeing." Seven exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Exactly. So, Six is right. Why _is_ the Handler scared of Eight? What is The Handler trying to hide, what is it Eight knows that she doesn't want _us_ knowing?"

* * *

"Hey" Eight jumped, turning to face the man in the doorway. Dave. His name was Dave.

"Er, hi?" That's how social interactions are supposed to go? Right? Dave winced slightly. Or maybe not.

"You're- bad at this." He stated. "But, we'll get you interacting with more people soon enough."

"Wait, you're letting me stay?" She wanted to stay. The taps here worked all the time and didn't cut off until she turned them off. That was strange. Why was that strange?

"Course we are. You're gonna have to stick with me and Eudora for a bit though." She could do that. Dave was nice and so was Eudora, probably. She was just being cautious right now. Which was sensible.

"You don't trust me." She stated. She'd yet to actually meet anyone else in this massive building, but it wasn't a stretch to assume that they didn't trust her.

"Can you blame us? You came out of nowhere with The Academy brand, claiming to have no memory. We're fighting a war, we have to be vigilante to survive." That- made sense.

* * *

Seven paused as her siblings left the room, there was a book on the floor, under Eight's bed. _Guards! Guards!_ Seven had lost count of how many times she'd seen her sister curled up reading the book. Eight wasn't coming home. Smiling sadly to herself, Seven curled up on the bed with the book and began to read.

* * *

"I see you redecorated." Eight stated as Dave lead her through the halls.

"Uh, yeah, how did you know that?" He asked. they'd taken down more pictures of the man that used to own this place than they could count.

"Walls, there's clear spots where pictures and other things have been taken down. Doesn't take a genius to figure it out."

* * *

"Hey Two."

"Lila." He greeted. The only agent who could match The Umbrella Academy dropped down to sit beside him.

"What's got you so worked up?" She asked, nicking one of his knives. Asshole.

"Eight. What- what did she do? When she left?" Lila paused.

"Aside from scream at Mum? Not much. Blew up a building, but that's about it. Why?" Typical Eight behaviour, the unspoken words said. But it wasn't. Eight didn't scream at people. She didn't just randomly blow up buildings. She always had a reason.

"We're just- trying to figure out why she left." Left us, he didn't say. But it was true. He got why his sister wanted to leave, they'd all thought about leaving at one point or another, but why had she gone alone?

"Who knows what goes through Eight's head." Lila replied "Trying to figure it out will just hurt yours." She punched him in the shoulder "Relax. You need to stop worrying about her. Eight's a big girl now. She can take care of herself."

"You're right." He muttered, staring at the bracelet in his hands. The silver '8' in the middle staring back at him. Eight had left it behind. She wasn't coming back. He'd have to go find her then. Just to give the bracelet back of course.

* * *

"Okay, we're gonna try and jog your memory today but, before we start, can you tell us anything about the other Academy members?"

"Uh, there's seven of them? And they all have different powers?"

"Let me try something." Herb interrupted. "Number Eight. Report." Eight froze, sitting up straight and staring straight ahead. Dave got the felling that she wasn't actually looking at anything "Subject, The Umbrella Academy."

"Designation 00.01." Eight started, her voice void of any emotion, and Dave scrabbled for his pen "Alias: Spaceboy. Powers: Super Strength and Durability. Team leader. Had the physiology of an ape after an experimental medical procedure following a failed Mission." Dave frowned slightly as he noted down everything she said. Performing body-altering, life-changing, experimental medical procedures most likely without consent and what was most likely an unwilling participant. He couldn't help but wonder about limits though, how strong _was_ he? How durable? Could he survive a nuke?

"Designation 00.02. Alias: The Kraken. Powers: Trajectory Calculation, primarily with knives, and Holding Breath Indefinitely. Transgender." Knife Boy, as Eight had loving dubbed him. Dave suspected that he'd be one of the harder ones to take down, purely because he worked best from a distance and could kill them all before they even knew he was there. How long was indefinitely though, was there a limit they just hadn't reached? How many knives could he control at once? Could he stop things being thrown at him or did he have to throw them?

"Designation 00.03. Alias: The Rumour. Powers: Reality Manipulation through Lying. Sentence has to start with the phrase 'I Heard A Rumour'." It was nice to finally know how her powers worked. It also explained the tape. Would earplugs counter her power? Did the person it was aimed at have to hear the words or was the fact that they were said enough to make them true?

"Designation 00.04. Alias: The Séance. Powers: Communing with the Dead, making the Dead Corporeal, Communication through Airwaves, Possession, Telekinesis, Levitation and possible Immortality. Scared of powers relating to the dead, consumes drugs to dull said powers whenever possible. Do not leave unattended in medical wards if at all possible." That- that was a lot of power for one person. Dave shuddered slightly. Seeing the dead could not be fun. But, the possibilities with that much power. How many dead could he make corporeal at once? Did he have a stronger connection to ghosts of people he knew? Did possession mean the dad could possess him or that he could possess the living? Possible immortality- how would they even test that?

"Designation 00.05. Alias: The Boy. Powers: Teleportation and minor Time Travel abilities. Due to a time travel mishap, appearance is that of a thirteen year old." The kid. The Academy member with the highest kill count. It did explain why he was so good when he was so young though. Time travel. That- that opened so many avenues and possibilities but teleportation on its own was incredible. How far could he teleport? How many jumps in a row could he do? How many people could he take along?

"Designation 00.06. Alias: The Horror. Powers: Portal to an Eldritch Being, possibly multiple Eldritch Beings, housed in the stomach. Hates powers and will not use them if at all possible to avoid using them." So that's what the Horror could do. Dave and Eudora were the first people to see his face and live to tell the tale.

"Designation 00.07. Alias: The White Violin. Powers: Sound Absorption, Manipulation and Projection. Most powerful when channelling powers through violin." That explained the violin. He went to put down the pen, but Eight hadn't finished talking.

"Designation 00.08. Alias: The Control. Powers: None. Encyclopedic knowledge of both allies and enemies due to photographic memory. Do not share information that you don't want being used against you. The Academy member most likely to go rogue. Do not leave near sensitive information unsupervised. Keep away from explosives at all cost. Threats against Eight can be used to keep the rest of The Academy in line." The last sentence sent chills down Dave's spine. They'd been kids when The Commission got them. Just kids.

"Report Over." Eight fell forwards with a groan, clutching her head.

"Where the hell did that come from?"

"Standard Commission procedure for reconnaissance agents or information gatherers reports. Sorry to do that to you."

"What made you think that would work?" Eudora asked.

"I may not have stuck around for long after The Handler brought The Umbrella Academy in, but Eight was smart even then. The few wins I remember her getting happened because she watched her enemy and then used sensitive information against them in the middle of the fight. She has to have been doing something all these years and, if she wasn't fighting, she was most likely gathering information."


	2. Fabled Tales In History Tell Of What She Wants To Be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note, this story will be updated on the first Friday of every month in the place of that week's Close Your Eyes chapter.

"It doesn't feel real." Four stated, picking at his food "That Eight's gone I mean." One frowned, deliberately not looking at the empty seat next to Six.

"Eight made her choice Four." One replied "She chose to leave. We should try to move on and forget about her."

"Are you seriously telling me you can just forget about our sister?" Four demanded

"Eight isn't coming back Four. She doesn't want to. I think she made that pretty clear when she tried to blow us all up, Klaus!" One snapped

"What did you just call me?"

"Sounded like a name"

"Why would One call Four Clyde?" Three asked

"Klaus." Six corrected "One called Four Klaus. It sounds- familiar. It sounds familiar."

"I- I have no idea where it came from." One muttered. "It just- felt right."

"My name is Four. You know this. You've always known this. Why would calling my Chris-"

"Klaus" Six corrected

"Whatever!" Four snapped at six before turning back to One "-feel right?"

"Maybe your name's actually Clint-" Two started

" _Klaus_." Six stressed, "One said _Klaus_." Two ignored him

"and we all just forgot."

"Why would he forget his own name?" Seven asked, " _How_ would he forget his own name?"

"Maybe we all have different names that we forgot and Eight uncovered that among a bunch of other stuff and that's why she left." Four suggested sarcastically.

"Don't be stupid Four."

"I was being sarcastic Three."

* * *

"Eight?" Dave asked. The woman was stood at the entrance to an unused hall. The bedrooms down the corridor had been used at one point, the rooms still full of the belongings of their previous occupants, remnants of the people who had lived here before them. That wasn't the reason they hadn't used the rooms though, they'd taken over the rooms of the man that had owned the house before them. No, they'd left the rooms down the unused hall alone because the occupants had been children. Eight children that had just seemingly vanished one day without warning, going by the way things were left out, like they were part of games that never got finished.

"I- I feel like I've been here before." She stated, fingers running over a poster on correct fighting stances tacked to the wall. "I- why can't I remember?" She reached the first door, hand pausing on the handle. "he had a stutter."

"What?" Dave asked as the pieces started to fall into place. Eight abandoned rooms, eight Umbrella Academy members. Rooms that had belonged to children, Umbrella Academy members that were just kids when they came to the commission.

"The boy that lived here. He had a stutter. And he told us stupid stuff to see if we'd believe it. He- he said- he said that if you stuck a block of cheese in the player it would play a film about how that cheese was made." She smiled slightly as she spoke. "I can see his face in my mind but his name- why can't I remember his name?"

"Hey, it's okay, it'll come back to you. Just give it some time." Dave reassured her "you can't really remember anything, why would this be any different?"

"No- no- that's not it. It's like- it's like there was more than one name. Two springs to mind, but Two tried to kill us." Eight screwed her eyes shut. "D. It starts with a D."

"Maybe one of the other rooms will jog your memory." Dave suggested. The next door was open. They'd tried to leave everything as they'd found it and whoever lived there had left it open.

"One two three four five six seven eight." Eight muttered, "We- we can never escape our fate."

"That's- morbid." Dave muttered,

"He laughed." She said, changing track completely. "He laughed so much, he was so bright and it was so, _so_ easy to get caught up in his light. As long as he was laughing, coming up with games for us to play, it felt like nothing could hurt us. We were wrong." She moved away from the door like she'd been burned, heading down to the next one. "Music. So much music. A girl. A girl with a violin. She didn't spend much time with us- something about her was different. In a different way than how I was different. She didn't spend much time with us, but we could nearly always hear her playing." Down to the two rooms at the very end of the hall. "They were close to each other. They both dreamed of the stars, just in different ways. He wanted to go to space, to fly amongst the stars. She wanted stardom, to be famous and see her name up in lights without the rest of us attached." Every word out of her mouth made the nameless monsters that had killed hundreds of people seem more and more human, though he couldn't connect any of the things she spoke about to the people he'd seen across the battlefield. She turned suddenly, darting past him and up the stairs.

"Eight?" Dave called as he followed her up. He found her at the top, looking between two closed doors that faced each other.

"He liked books." She stated, eyes locked on the door closest to the stairs. "He hated fighting though. Hated the thing that made him special. We were all special in some way, aside from me and the girl with the violin. No- that's not quite right. She's special too. We just didn't know it."

"You okay?" Eight ignored him, turning to face the opposite door.

"He liked maths. Numbers always made sense. They didn't change. There was always only ever one right answer to a question. He liked that. It made things easy, logical. He- his name. He- he didn't have one. But- that can't be right. Everyone has a name."

"You don't." Dave pointed out.

"I- no. I- yes, Eight but also no- there was something else. Else. El. Eight. El. No, not El. Longer."

"Eight?" Dave interrupted, he could almost see the smoke coming out of her ears as she tried to remember. "The last room?"

"Oh. It was mine." Eight froze. "It was mine!" She paused, her hand on the doorknob, looking at him. "I- you left the other rooms how you found them. Can I-"

"It's your room." He pointed out "go for it." She twisted it sharply, throwing the door open, like he'd tell her she couldn't if she took too long to open it. The room was simple, a carefully made bed in the middle, a bookcase and a wardrobe against one wall and a desk under the window on the other. The whole room was shades of purple. Pale purple walls and a dark purple carpet. Purple bedding and a panda bear teddy that looked like it had come out of a claw machine was sat in front of the pillow.

"Panda." Eight stated, walking over to the bed

"Yeah. It's a panda bear."

"No. Her name is Panda."

"Okay."

"The laughing boy named her. I think." She picked up the bear. There was a tape under it. "Strange."

"Eight?" Dave was still stood in the doorway. From what the resistance had pieced together about the kids that lived here in their spare time, bedrooms had been a sanctuary. He didn't want to intrude on that.

"It's addressed to me." She showed him the tape, **_Number Eight_** was written across the front in a neat hand. "Do you have anywhere we can watch it?"

* * *

"You're leaving, aren't you?" Two froze as Four spoke from behind him.

"She wants us to kill our sister Four." Two replied, refusing to turn around. If he faced his brother, Four would stand a chance at talking him out of it. "Eight doesn't even have powers."

"Didn't stop her." Four pointed out "If anything, the fact that she doesn't have powers just made her even more vicious."

"Either way, I'm leaving and you can't stop me."

"I mean, I could." Four scoffed "We both know I'm the more powerful of the two of us. What are you going to do against an army of ghosts Two? Throw knives at intangible beings?" Two finally turned to glare at Four.

"Go on then. Summon your army of ghosts. Stop me leaving." Four stopped floating, landing lightly on the floor.

"We already lost a sister Two, don't make us lose a brother too." Six stated softly from the doorway. "I- it's bad enough we're being sent on a manhunt for Eight. I don't want to be ordered to kill you as well."

"And that's if the rebels don't kill you first for everything we've done."

"They didn't kill Eight."

"Eight didn't go on missions. She wasn't involved in any way that they could see. As far as they know, the only connection Eight had with us is the tattoo."

"We don't _have_ to kill Eight. We could just bring her back." Six and Two both stared at Four incredulously.

"And we can all walk out of here right now with no repercussions." Six replied dryly. "Eight knows something. Something the Handler doesn't want us knowing. Even if we bring Eight back, there's no way the Handler will let her live."

"Which is why I'm going to her." Two stated, shouldering his bag "Besides, I get the feeling she didn't intend to leave quite the way she did."

"Oh?" Four asked

"She left her bracelet." Two fished the item out of his pocket, the silver '8' glinting in the light. "Not even One would willingly leave his behind. Never mind Eight." Their bracelets were the one thing they had from before the Handler came into their lives, they were far fancier than anything that woman would willingly give them. A reminder that they'd had someone that cared about them once.

"Three days." Six said.

"What?"

"Wait three days and we'll come with you. We're the Even Numbers Club after all." Six held out his hand, his own bracelet sliding down his arm.

"Even Numbers Club!" Four cheered, placing his hand on top of Six's.

"Even Numbers Club." Two muttered, sticking his own hand out.

"See, now we've got another reason to find Eight." Four smiled "We need to finish the cheer."

* * *

"If you're watching this" The girl on the screen looked like a younger version of Eight, her hair a bit longer and her cheeks chubbier, but it was unmistakably Eight. "we made our way home. If you're _not_ Eight, put this tape back where you found it." Yep. Definitely Eight. "My name, _your_ name, is Elizabeth Hargreeves, you may have forgotten that, you may have picked up a different name along the way, but that doesn't change the fact that we were once Elizabeth Hargreeves, no matter how many people call us Eight, no matter how many names we pick up over our life, part of us will _always_ be Elizabeth Hargreeves."

"Elizabeth." Eight muttered. "Elizabeth. _Elizabeth_."

"We're the youngest of eight, that's why he called us Eight. We have seven siblings, two sisters and five brothers. If they're not with you when you watch this, why aren't they?"

"Number Eight." A voice called from off camera.

"Shit. I have to go. There's so much more I want to say, so much more you need to know if we've forgotten, but we don't have time. I don't care where I'm heading, where you've come from, we have seven siblings, we will _always_ have seven siblings. We love them and they love us and we are willing to tear heaven and hell apart to keep them safe."

"Number Eight!" The girl onscreen closed her eyes

"This is Elizabeth Hargreeves signing off. I- hopefully not for the last time."

 _"Number Eight!"_ The screen went black.

"Elizabeth, huh?" Dave asked. Elizabeth stood up, her chair clattering backwards. "Wait, where are you going?"

"My room. I- this can't be all that I left for me to find. I have to have made a record of their names."


End file.
